I’m back from my short year end hibernation and ready to tackle 2019. There’s a very busy twelve months ahead: Transmissions 5, a new collection of my robot artwork, will be heading to Kickstarter in the spring. In the summer, Astrogarth’s Moggin, a project that I’ve been working on for almost three years will finally be revealed. My final personal project of the year will be the 2020 Transmissions calendar in autumn. Between all that I’m loaded up with some exciting illustration work too, so my pen-wielding appendage should be getting plenty of exercise.

Sadly, such a packed diary means I can’t fit in everything I would like to, so I’ve decided that I won’t be doing any conventions this year. The bigger events are now over three days which means they take quite a bite out of the schedule and are more expensive to attend. As my eyesight gets worse, I also find the convention environment requires much more energy that it used to. I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me at conventions over the last decade and more; it’s deeply appreciated.

Time to get back to work on some more robots for Transmissions 5. I hope the new year brings everyone peace, happiness and creativity in abundance. Cheers!

As the festive season moves inexorably closer, I should mention that I’ll be making just three more shipping runs before I take an extended break over the year end. If you’re looking to order something as a Christmas gift, please consider placing your order as soon as possible. My last run will be on December 19 but I would suggest any orders for delivery outisde the UK are in by December 12 to allow good time for delivery. Any custom orders ( large prints or sketches ) will need to be in by December 6.

I’ve been having fun with Inktober this month. It’s been great to produce some traditional work and making a bit of space each day for some work that can just be about fun and experimentation is very rewarding.

Some of these drawings are now available for sale. You can find them in the Misc section of the site. I’ve also made some robot sketches available in the Transmissions section.

A new paladin hero skin is now available in Hearthstone. Please say hello ( hello, hello ) to Sir Annoy-O! It was great to be able to revisit this little guy and extend his family tree a little further. For anyone who hasn’t already had enough of this annoying chap, perhaps you’d be interested in seeing how Sir Annoy-O evolved?

Above you can see the inital sketches for Sir Annoy-O, from first concept at the top to the approved design at the bottom. The setting for the artwork was to be Stormwinid, so my first idea was to have Annoy-O dressed up in a collection of Stormwind and Alliance gear. Like he’d raided the Stormwind souvenir shop. This was judged insufficiently annoying and, looking back, the pose is quite static; he’s just standing there.

One of the original Annoy-o-tron’s signatures are his horn and bell. He’s a noisy devil. So the next step was to consider options to give Sir Annoy-O improved noise making capabilities. What is the most annoying nusical instrument? Bagpipes, of course. I really liked the idea of giving the Annoy-Os Scottish heritage but this too failed to acheive a satisfactory level of annoyance.

I had the idea to try and work in a squeaky hammer, a call out to the preferred weapon of his newly adopted paladin brothers and sisters, and while drawing that in had the idea of adding a marching drum. Then everything just fell into place, the drum head to show off the smiley face from the original Annoyotron and the one man band feel of the design suits the Annoy-O vibe perfectly. That design was approved and was worked up to the final art with no significant changes, other than the addition of some extra honkers on the side of the drum.

If you want to play with Sir Annoy-O, he’s available along with a pack bundle during the Hallow’s End event which runs until the end of October.

As Halloween is fast approaching I thought this would be an opportune moment to offer up some zombies. These canvas prints are ex-display and have some slight blemishes but are offered with horrifyingly brutal discounts to reflect their imperfections. Free UK shipping too! UK shipping only due to size.

Find them in the newly added ‘misc’ category above. More to be added there soon..!

Signed prints of my work for Hearthstone's latest expansion, The Boomsday Project, are now available. Prints are A4 size ( 210 x 297mm ) on high quality glossy paper and ship worldwide in sturdy cardboard tubes.

I've just taken delivery of a huge pile of boxes. The 2019 Transmissions calendars are here! Many thanks to all who backed the Kickstarter campaign. This wouldn't be possible without your support.

Kickstarter rewards should begin shipping out next week. Pre-orders will despatch once all Kickstarter rewards have been sent. The calendars will then go on general sale. There's still time to get in on the pre-orders here!

Annoy-o-module, for the new Hearthstone expansion, The Boomsday Project. I've painted over 100 pieces of art for Hearthstone but my favourite is one of the first I produced, Annoy-o-tron, so it's always a pleasure to be asked to extend the little guy's family. First there was the troubled step-cousin, Psych-o-tron. Now there's baby brother, Annoy-o-module, and imagine my delight when I was also given the opportunity to paint his creator! Meet Annoy-o-tron's Mom, Giggling Inventor!

Here's hoping I have the chance to explore this wacky family tree further in the future..!

The Boomsday Project, Hearthstone's latest expansion, is soon to be released! This was a really fun set to work on, especially as I had the opportunity to concept the appearance of Dr. Boom for this set and to paint his hero card art. The theme was super cool. Any expansion that gives me the chance to draw a mechanical rabbit on a pogo stick, a weaponised piñata and show the lunatic who invented our old friend Annoy-o-tron is all right by me!

The Kickstarter campaign for my 2019 Transmissions calendar has now ended. The project was over 1000% funded with the help of more than 250 backers. Thanks to everyone who supported the project!

Pre-orders are now open for anyone who may have missed the campaign. Pre-ordered calendars will despatch once all Kickstarter rewards have been shipped, which should mean delivery in late September. Pre-order here - http://bit.ly/2019TCPre

The Kickstarter campaign for my 2019 Transmissions calendar is now live! The calendar is A3 in size, spiral bound, shrink wrapped and features a robot artwork printed full page for each month of the year. Take a look here - http://bit.ly/T2019KS

Prints of some of my work for the latest Hearthstone expansion, The Witchwood, are now available in the Hearthstone sectioon of this site. Choose Murloc Holmes to add a whiff of mystery to your workspace, Muckling as a creepy cute gift for your favourite swamp monster, or Shudderwock if your walls need a touch of bellowing horror. There's something for everyone!

The final Kickstarter rewards are preparing to journey towards their owners, so I'm calling the Transmissions 4 campaign complete. Thanks to everyone for the amazing support. I'm delighted with the reaction to the book and it's wonderful to think that the pictures I spend my time quietly making in my dark little attic in the Midlands have found homes on bookshelves across the globe. Thank you!

Now the campaign is concluded, Transmissions 4 is on general sale and I've begun to make work from the book available as prints. You can find both in the Transmissions section of the site.

So what's next, I hear you cry? Work on Transmissions 5 has already begun, but it's a little early to start thinking about the next book too seriously. Next up is the 2019 Transmissions calendar which will be heading to Kickstarter next month.

After that, I have a new project which will hopefully launch later in the year. More on that nearer the time, but I can confirm it has nothing to do with robots.

Transmissions 4 has gone to press! All the artwork is complete, the layout is done, and the files are now in the capable hands of my printer. The books should be with me in a couple of weeks, so Kickstarter rewards should begin to despatch this month, with pre-orders following hot on their heels.